After Mozart passed away, the town drunk heard some strange noises coming from the grave site. Terrified, he ran and got the priest. He bent close to the headstone and heard some faint, unrecognizable music. The frightened priest got the town magistrate. He listened for a minute and said, "Ah, yes, that's Mozart's Symphony No. 41 being played backward. And there's the 40th ... the 39th ... 38th ..." Then he stood up and said, "Nothing to worry about. It's just Mozart decomposing."
"Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night?"
(Job 35:10, NIV)
Ludwig van Beethoven, one of the world's greatest musicians, was born into a musical family in Germany. As a child, he spent many lonely hours practicing his music every day.
By the age of eleven, he was already composing his own music and conducting an orchestra. In his late teens, he went to Vienna for further study. There, he reached fame though not fortune.
One evening as he was out walking, he passed a cobbler's house where he heard someone inside practicing one of his compositions. As he stopped to listen, he overheard a girl say that she wished she could hear a real musician play it properly.
Beethoven went into the house and, noticing the young lady at the piano was blind, offered to play the piece for her. He did so for more than an hour and while he did, darkness fell and the lone candle in the room had gone out.
Outside in the night sky, the moon shone brightly and sent its radiant beams glistening into the room where Beethoven sat playing beautiful music. He was so inspired by the appreciation of his music by the young lady and the beauty of the atmosphere in the room that he composed his famous "Moonlight Sonata."
Do you ever feel that your dreams have been shattered and you feel all alone in the darkness of despair? I certainly have. However, when our lives are committed to Christ, it's in these "dark nights of the soul" when God is working in us to help us grow, to give us more understanding of life and compassion for others that, in time, will bring back the music into our lives.
SUGGESTED PRAYER: "Dear God, thank you for the dark nights you have led me through ... dark nights that have helped me grow, become a healthier, happier and more whole person, and given me a much greater understanding of others. Gratefully, in Jesus' name. Amen."